Ant-Man and the Wasp's biggest unanswered questions

After the severe emotional trauma inflected by Avengers: Infinity War, fans desperately needed something lighthearted, fun, and carefree to remind everyone why superhero films are great to begin with. In other words, fans needed Ant-Man and the Wasp, which delivered action and laughs in equal measure. Finally, we can all unclench a little.

Still, as fun as Ant-Man and the Wasp is, it's still a Marvel movie, which means subplots, Easter eggs, and hidden meanings galore. And then there's that gut-punch mid-credits scene. With Avengers 4 less than a year away, Marvel had to spend at least some time in Ant-Man and the Wasp laying the groundwork for what's sure to come, which is nothing less than arguably the most hotly anticipated film of all time. And they didn't disappoint, giving us an ending that opened as many doors as it closed. So what does it all mean? And how does it tie into Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4? Here's a spoiler-filled look at the biggest unanswered questions in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

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How does the Quantum Realm work?

Even after two movies, the rules of the Quantum Realm — and how shrinking works in general — are still a bit of a head-scratcher. In the first movie, for instance, we're told at great length that nobody can return from the sub-atomic Quantum Realm, so needless to say, Scott ends up doing just that. How? Doesn't matter.

Of course, it does matter, since the entire point of Ant-Man and the Wasp is trying to rescue Janet Van Dyne from the Quantum Realm. But why is it so hard? Janet sends them a signal through Scott's brain telling them that if they don't rescue her in the next two hours, something or other wouldn't be aligned for another hundred years. Why? And why do they need to make a special shrinking car to go into the Quantum Realm to get her, when Scott traveled there in just his suit? Heck, at one point they shrink the lab, put it in a car, and then shrink the car, which seemingly should send the lab down to the next level of shrinkitude — only it doesn't.

Plus, there's the thing about time working differently in the Quantum Realm, or not working at all. If this is the case, why did Janet age at the same rate as everyone else while she was stuck there? Given that we saw a brief glimpse of the Realm in Doctor Strange — and the fact that Scott was explicitly warned in the mid-credits scene not to get sucked into a time vortex — it seems like this aspect could be pretty important going forward. But since we don't have any idea how any of it works, who knows?

Though we may be getting a few hints sooner than you might think…

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What is Janet's connection to Captain Marvel?

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One of the big revelations in Ant-Man and the Wasp is Michelle Pfeiffer's character, Janet Van Dyne. After spending three decades in the Quantum Realm, she's finally rescued by the gang at the end of the movie. Hooray! But her return prompts far more questions than it answers.

For instance, what the heck are her new powers? Can she only heal people who are afflicted with quantum sicknesses, like Ghost and (briefly) Hank? Or can she heal other people too? What about other uses for her quantum energy — can she use it as a weapon? Does she need to recharge her powers by revisiting the Quantum Realm?

And perhaps the biggest question of all: what's her connection to Captain Marvel?

On the face of it, there wouldn't seem to be any connection. But while the comic book version of Janet doesn't have any ties to the Realm, there's someone who does: the original Captain Mar-Vell. It's a bit convoluted (hey, it's comics), but Captain Marvel's powers came from the Nega-Bands, which were a crude copy of the Quantum Bands, a weapon of great power wielded by the Protector of the Universe which harnessed and channeled the power of the Quantum Realm.

So will the movie version of Captain Marvel draw her power from the same place? Marvel is pretty smart about these things. There's a reason the two movies between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 were Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. On they surface they seem about as different as possible, with one a superhero romcom and the other a period sci-fi space epic. But it turns out there's something that could bind the two films closely together — it's just so small, it was right under our noses the whole time.

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How will Ant-Man stop Thanos?

Speaking of Avengers 4, remember Ant-Man and the Wasp's mid-credits scene? Boy, that was a kick in the teeth, right? Not only did Hank, Janet, and Hope all get turned to dust by Thanos's finger snap from the end of Avengers: Infinity War, but now Scott is trapped in the Quantum Realm!

It would stink if it weren't for the fact that it clearly ties into — and likely sets up — the events of Avengers 4. One of the big rumors swirling around Avengers 4 is that it involves time travel, as some of the stars have been seen on-set wearing their costumes from the first Avengers film. And we also know from interviews with the cast that there's supposedly some kind of massive scene that involves dozens of Marvel heroes all gathered together — including Michael Douglas' Hank Pym and Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet Van Dyne. Plus, of course, we also know that Doctor Strange set some kind of plan in motion at the end of Avengers: Infinity War using the information he gained through the Time Stone.

Having Scott stuck in the Quantum Realm right next to a time vortex seems like a great way to bring Ant-Man into the action of Avengers 4, possibly even as a major catalyst for events. So will Ant-Man prove to be Thanos' doom?

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Will Cassie become a superhero?

Ant-Man and the Wasp's mid-credits scene wasn't the only one that may possibly have been teasing events from Avengers 4. At the end of the film, Scott and Hope take Scott's daughter Cassie out for a night at the movies, Ant-Man style. During the course of the conversation, Cassie mentions that when she grows up, she wants to help people, just like her dad. Awww, cute, right?

Sure, but it very well may also have been a hint of things to come. This is a Marvel movie, after all. And there's one pretty big reason to think so. Earlier this year it was announced that the character of Cassie Lang has been recast for Avengers 4, with the 16-year-old Emma Fuhrmann taking over for the 10-year-old Abby Ryder Fortson. This ties into the rumor that Avengers 4 may involve time travel, or possibly a time jump. But it also ties into the history of Cassie Lang in the comics: after her father died, the teenage Cassie decided to continue his superhero legacy by using Pym's technology to become a size-changing heroine named Stature.

So could Avengers 4 possibly begin six years in the future — a future where, believing her father to be dead, Cassie has become a superhero in her own right?

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What's with the crappy new suit?

One of the stranger aspects of Ant-Man and the Wasp is Scott's brand new upgraded suit. And by upgraded, we mean it's a piece of crap.

Since we last saw Hank Pym two years ago, he's been hard at work perfecting a new, updated suit. For some reason, though, the new one doesn't work nearly as well as the original — in fact, it's constantly short-circuiting throughout the film. This leads to all sorts of funny moments where he's stuck at inconvenient sizes, but while that sets up some easy laughs for the screenwriters, it doesn't make any sense that Pym's "upgrades" would all end up making the suit dramatically worse.

It's especially strange considering Hope Van Dyne is also wearing an upgraded suit, and hers works perfectly fine throughout the movie. Not only does she not get stuck changing sizes at random, her suit gives her wings and blasters as well. If Hank is able to upgrade the Wasp suit so much, why is the Ant-Man suit such total garbage?

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Ghost: hero or villain?

Finally, there's Ghost. Considering how morally ambiguous the character is throughout the film, it's only fitting that we're left with more questions than answers about her.

For instance, is she healed or not? When the film ended, it certainly seemed as though Janet had managed to use her quantum energy to save Ghost from certain doom. But in the mid-credits scene, Scott and the gang were headed back into the Quantum Realm to gather more energy for their "new friend Ghost." This implies she's not actually healed at all — which could be a big problem for her now that Janet has been snapped out of existence by Thanos.

If she is ever cured, will she lose her powers? Or simply gain control over them? And what will she do with her newfound freedom? Will she use her powers (assuming she has any) and her training to become a hero? Will she seek revenge on the government who "weaponized" her? Will we see her, along with all the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when the characters gather together in Avengers 4? Or will she simply vanish completely like her namesake?

Unfortunately, there's only one way to learn the answers to any of our questions, and that's to wait until Marvel's next movie.